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Marta Cox has hit back at an unbelievable attack from Panama Federation president Manuel Arias and revealed she could quit the national team after being labelled “fat” and “out of shape” in controversial comments ahead of International Women’s Day.
Cox had criticised the facilities in Panama after the Central Americans were knocked out of the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup in February.
The attacking midfielder is one of Panama’s most emblematic players and netted a brilliant free-kick from 35 yards out against France in last year’s World Cup.
Responding to Cox’s criticism of the installations in Panama, Arias said: “Marta Cox stopped to talk about our league. She’s out of shape, she’s fat, she couldn’t move on the pitch. It’s very easy to talk, but she doesn’t know anything about the Panama league for years. She doesn’t know what’s going on here.”
Taken aback by those words, the midfielder said: “If this type of situation becomes a constant, I will not return for the national team. There were words used to describe me that certainly hurt me and were unexpected.”
Panama’s Federation has since apologised in a statement which said: “On International Women’s Day… we regret the unfortunate term used by our president.
“In the federation we are committed to continue working for women’s football, as we have been doing for the last five years through sports and training programmes focused on women. That said, we know that there is still a lot more work to do.”
In a statement through Panama’s Association of Professional Footballers, Cox said that progress had not been made since last year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“After the World Cup, I expected so much more,” he said. “That desire to see steady progress led me to speak out after an unfortunate performance in the Gold Cup. We are the first to recognise that we were not up to the standard of the tournament, but that same introspection must go beyond just the players.”
Cox plays her football in Mexico with Tijuana, having joined from Pachuca earlier this year.
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